


Scared Straight

by Offendedfish



Series: Night Lights [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, He's there but not really that big of a part, Mafia AU, Mentions of Murder, Not Beta Read, Torture, diabetes inducing drinks, odd friendship, terrible comforting skills
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 10:20:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25968016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Offendedfish/pseuds/Offendedfish
Summary: Dinner dates are always the best way to ask your boss whether they went too far.
Relationships: Implied Dick Grayson/Original Character
Series: Night Lights [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1884826
Kudos: 19





	Scared Straight

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [In the Game](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19017142) by [withthekeyisking](https://archiveofourown.org/users/withthekeyisking/pseuds/withthekeyisking). 



> Hi! So this fic is just more or less set in Gotham City with little interaction with the main cast. This is kind of just me trying to develop two of my OCs and another excuse to write a diner scene. The setting and interpretation of canon characters are based on the In the Game series by WithTheKeyIsKing. I highly recommend you check their fics out.

"I swear Mr.Grayson! I swear I- Me and the boys- We-"

Blue and red eyes meet. Eddie notes a flicker in the air between them. Dick looks down at the man in his clean, sleek suit, sweet smile, and merciful eyes. A saint if you didn't know any better. By contrast, Faust dressed just as sleekly in a foreboding dark suit, hard eyes, and hard set mouth looked like an executioner if you didn't know any better. 

"Faust, do you believe him?"

Faust looks the man over, twisting and turning the heavy sledgehammer in her gloved hands. The metal of the head winked at the man. His Adam's apple bobbed. 

"Marty! Chuck! They can tell you!" 

Another look passed between the two. Dick gives Faust a small roll of his shoulders.

"I believe him," 

The man sitting in the chair lets out a breath, shoulders loosening and backsliding down the head of the chair. Half the room lets out the same bated breath but no one dares to move an inch. There was something incomplete about the gesture. An openendedness that put Eddie on edge. 

The man straightens up, wide smile, about to express his gratitude when the sledgehammer crashes down; its metal head still winking at the man. Faust's petite frame bent with the force of her swing. Her body seemed to levitate as the impact made a sickening crunch. Some broken animal sound escapes the man.

"I said I believed you but I never did say that I forgave you," 

Almost too quickly, Faust springs back to form. Hammer overhead. Back poised. Jaw clenched. With an arc, another thud. The man retches out another cry. Almost a wheeze. 

Thud

Squish

Thud 

Squish

He could hear people around him begin to gag but he knew just like him they couldn't tear their eyes away from the scene. It felt like an endless loop of broken cries and thuds and splatters. Eddie thinks quietly about the leftover lasagna he'd tucked behind the mushroom soup to hide from Roz. He really should have just left it out for her. Not that she's had trouble finding his food before. 

Thud

Squish

cry

Thud 

Squish

cry

Dick gently clamps a hand on Faust's shoulder, handing her what looked like a silk handkerchief to wipe the gore off her face. She lets out a quiet breath and whispers a 'thanks' before stepping back. Both she and Eddie hazard a look back at her handy work and Eddie immediately regretted it. The hand and some of the arm looked little more than a mess of red. Feeling the contents of his stomach begin to march up to his throat, he covers his mouth. She on the other hand showed the barest hint of emotion looking more concerned about the state of her gloves as she gave both hands a quick flick. 

"I assume you've all learned a valuable lesson courtesy of our darling Mr.Jones over here," 

The crowd heaves and nods robotically hoping that simple gesture would be enough. 

Eddie's eyes wander to the man. He didn't want to put a name to the now ghostly face. He is still among the living, yes, but he looks well on his way to meeting death. How has he not died of shock yet? Does he even have a hand left? Before Eddie could let his curiosity puppet him toward the man, two pairs of strong arms picked him up and began to drag him out the door, still groaning, still wheezing. The rest begin to file out with them. Everyone either looks grim or feverish. Eddie wasn't about to think too deeply about that. 

"Eddie, give Faust a hand with clean up, would ya?" Dick asks-- Not really. Mr.Grayson doesn't really ask.-- way too cheerily giving Faust a quick peck on her still gore covered face before walking out with the rest. 

"Course. Sure, boss." Eddie nods numbly eyes flickering towards Faust. 

\------

"Wasn't that a little excessive?" Eddie whispers lowly as he could. He frowns picking what seemed to be a chunk of a finger. Faust shot him a look. Impassive but still warning. Her eyes shift carefully, Eddie is pretty sure if her ears could swivel they would be, to see if there was still any sign of their boss. Her nonexpression shifts inching into a frown or a scowl. 

"We'll talk later," 

Much to his unwarranted surprise, later did come. 

Eddie blanches openly at Faust's drink making his already upset stomach turn. He already couldn't get the image of her gore covered face out of his mind, now- NOW, she puts SEVEN sugar cubes and two teaspoons of honey into her coffee AND some whiskey. Eddie huffs noticing for the first time that his shoulders are still hitched. He opens his mouth to break the silence- 

"Complain about Issa's coffee habits instead,"

He would but he's pretty sure that Issa would put a bullet in his head despite claiming to like him. No, she wouldn't bother with a bullet. That was too impersonal. 

"I wasn't gunna talk about yer-" Eddie gestures vaguely causing the corners of Faust's lips to curl upward. A small part of him weighs a little less after seeing that smile. He takes a breath to steady himself. It was just Faust. If she was gonna kill him, she would at least have the decency not to enjoy it. He thinks. 

"I was- It's- Wasn't that a little excessive?" The smile vanishes. 

"I suppose it looks that way," Faust looks out the window. The view was atmospheric with the fog rolling in ominously and the street lamps flickering but all Eddie could focus on was the faraway look in Faust's red eyes as the window reflected them. 

"How much money do you think we could have lost tonight?"

"What? "

"Answer the question."

Eddie frowns again. There was no shipment tonight, no deals. At least, nothing related to- His stomach rolls again thinking of the gorey mush. 

"None,"

"Wrong. We could have lost at least $100, 000 tonight," 

"How?"

"You weren't listening, were you?"

The answer was no. He was listening. He was listening to the man pleading his case. He listened as the man screamed for his hand. And he listened as Faust obliterated the man's hand. Was there something else in that shipment? 

"Boss wasn't that mad about him losing the shipment. That was chump change. What he was mad about was them almost getting caught red-handed."

Ok, he really wasn't listening. Faust took a sip of her coffee, eyes roving over him, gauging his reaction. 

"He said he was distracted, yeah? He'd been bragging about an influx of money days before. "

Eddie nods and it clicked.

"That's how the cops found out about it."

Eddie slumped, slack-jawed, and instantly tired. Suddenly, Eddie felt the teensiest bit less bad for the man. Sure, he was missing a hand but he did something pretty stupid to get there. 

"And about it not being excessive?"

"It wasn't his dominant hand."

Eddie blinked at her. Ah, that makes sense-ish. Faust shrugs taking another generous sip. Eddie could see the other patrons eyeing them cautiously. Clearly their conversation had garnered attention but just like the grunts back in the warehouse, they kept their thoughts to themselves. It was just as well. 

Relief blanketed him until a man, a reporter from the way he dressed, took a seat a table away from them. A scare will do his health some good at least. 

"Did you have to make tomato paste out of him?" He let his eyes flicker to the man again. He hopes Faust was still too deep in thought to notice it. 

"Dick was bored," 

The answer was flat. Loud enough for the man to hear. He could see the man shift nervously in his seat. Eddie could feel his own Adam's apple bob at the thought. A bleak reminder that Faust, even with all her power, could only afford small mercies. 

"He said he wanted to scare you guys straight,"

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!


End file.
